A day after Chiefs right tackle Eric Winston should have gotten a paycheck from ESPN for all the time his face and voice went out over its airwaves, folks in Kansas City are pushing back against the notion that fans cheered the head injury suffered by quarterback Matt Cassel.

KCTV5 has raw video and audio of the play and its aftermath. And while the article at KCTV5.com suggests that Winston’s perception of cheering was inaccurate, the video and audio are at best inconclusive.

First, there are several points where the tape skips ahead, making it less than a comprehensive picture of the events that transpired after Cassel sustained a concussion. Second, the background noise when Cassel is laying on the ground seems much louder than “silence or close thereto,” which would have been the preferred setting under the circumstances. Third, it’s hard to see what the fans in the stands are actually doing while Cassel is on the ground receiving attention from the trainers, since the camera focuses mainly on the field.

Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, it sounds like there’s a delayed reaction after running back Jamaal Charles is tackled at the end of a 16-yard catch and run. Arguably, the crowd cheers the play, followed by a brief lull, followed by another cheer when it’s obvious that Cassel, who had completed nine passes and generated three turnovers, is flat on his back.

Some have ridiculously suggested that the fans were merely cheering the arrival of backup quarterback Brady Quinn. (To that we say, “Brady Quinn.”) Others have in slightly less ridiculous fashion justified the indiscretion by explaining that fans were merely venting their frustration with the current regime.

Though Winston may have swept too broadly to include fans who didn’t cheer the injury to Cassel, Winston was a first-hand witness to the incident, and the passion he displayed after the game — speaking from the heart and without notes — shows that he honestly experienced something he genuinely believed to be sickening. No matter how upset the fans are with the current direction of the organization, there’s no excuse for celebrating injury, especially now that we know as much as we do about concussions.

A day after Chiefs right tackle Eric Winston should have gotten a paycheck from ESPN for all the time his face and voice went out over its airwaves, folks in Kansas City are pushing back against the notion that fans cheered the head injury suffered by quarterback Matt Cassel.

KCTV5 has raw video and audio of the play and its aftermath. And while the article at KCTV5.com suggests that Winston’s perception of cheering was inaccurate, the video and audio are at best inconclusive.

First, there are several points where the tape skips ahead, making it less than a comprehensive picture of the events that transpired after Cassel sustained a concussion. Second, the background noise when Cassel is laying on the ground seems much louder than “silence or close thereto,” which would have been the preferred setting under the circumstances. Third, it’s hard to see what the fans in the stands are actually doing while Cassel is on the ground receiving attention from the trainers, since the camera focuses mainly on the field.

Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, it sounds like there’s a delayed reaction after running back Jamaal Charles is tackled at the end of a 16-yard catch and run. Arguably, the crowd cheers the play, followed by a brief lull, followed by another cheer when it’s obvious that Cassel, who had completed nine passes and generated three turnovers, is flat on his back.

Some have ridiculously suggested that the fans were merely cheering the arrival of backup quarterback Brady Quinn. (To that we say, “Brady Quinn.”) Others have in slightly less ridiculous fashion justified the indiscretion by explaining that fans were merely venting their frustration with the current regime.

Though Winston may have swept too broadly to include fans who didn’t cheer the injury to Cassel, Winston was a first-hand witness to the incident, and the passion he displayed after the game — speaking from the heart and without notes — shows that he honestly experienced something he genuinely believed to be sickening. No matter how upset the fans are with the current direction of the organization, there’s no excuse for celebrating injury, especially now that we know as much as we do about concussions.

Personally, I am 10,000 times more ashamed of any Chiefs fan that sent Winston homophobic slurs or sentiment in their Tweets based on bullshit hegemonic ideals of what a masculine voice is supposed to sound like than I am ashamed of any Chiefs fan that cheered Cassel's injury.

Personally, I am 10,000 times more ashamed of any Chiefs fan that sent Winston homophobic slurs or sentiment in their Tweets based on bullshit hegemonic ideals of what a masculine voice is supposed to sound like than I am ashamed of any Chiefs fan that cheered Cassel's injury.

The guy is married and had a kid. Where would anybody get THAT idea???

It really irritates me that the fans in KC seem to always get negative media attention and nothing about being fans for all these years that the chiefs/royals have been terrible. Like when ESPN calls us bad fans for booing Robinson Cano at the home run derby and this time.

Ive had season tickets for 28 years now. If they dont make Winston appologize to the fans, Cut Cassel at seasons end or sooner, and dump Romeo I will probably let them go. Cant really afford them anymore anyway.

They probably need to throw all their games for me to keep them also. If anyone doesnt believe that the Colts threw all their games last year are crazy. No way were they that bad! Why cant we???

Ive had season tickets for 28 years now. If they dont make Winston appologize to the fans, Cut Cassel at seasons end or sooner, and dump Romeo I will probably let them go. Cant really afford them anymore anyway.

They probably need to throw all their games for me to keep them also. If anyone doesnt believe that the Colts threw all their games last year are crazy. No way were they that bad! Why cant we???

Yeah I had to have that conversation like 5 times. My one friend told me about the Dilfer comments but he ripped into Dilfer's comments himself which was nice.

I had to have it on Facebook with a guy who isn't even a Chiefs fan but just wanted to make a statement about the culture of violence in the NFL or something. I told him to shove a chainsaw up his ass and rotate.